[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 123 (Tuesday, September 16, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S9376-S9377]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     NOMINATION OF GENERAL SHELTON

  Mr. WYDEN. Mr. President, I have asked for this time to notify my 
colleagues that I no longer intend to object to the U.S. Senate 
proceeding to the nomination of General Shelton to be Chairman of the 
Joint Chiefs of Staff.
  Last Thursday morning, I announced publicly that I would object to 
the Senate proceeding to General Shelton's nomination. My colleague 
from Oregon, Senator Smith, supported me in this effort. We did so not 
out of any reservation about the general's qualifications but because 
he is about to become the Nation's top ranking military officer.
  Mr. President, General Shelton is in a position to assure that the 
military--and in this case the Air Force--respond to rather than ignore 
the requests of the Congress and our constituents. It is not too much 
to ask that the Nation's top general help us address the concerns of 
the widows of the American airmen who have died serving our country. 
What they have wanted is simply to have the Air Force explain the 
reasons for the crash of a C-130 off the coast of California last 
November that killed 10 airmen on board. In April of this year, the Air 
Force informed the widows and families that the cause of the crash was 
engine failure due to fuel starvation. No further explanation was 
offered at that time. When the widows and families sought further 
explanation, they were told that the case was closed. Later that month, 
they came to me, and asked if we could help. I approached my colleague, 
Senator Smith. And, at every step of the way, Senator Smith has been 
exceptionally helpful in our joint efforts to work to make sure that 
the Air Force would provide the loved ones of these airmen an answer to 
what happened in this tragedy. The families, my colleagues, have a 
right to know.
  We asked that an independent group be allowed to review the file. We 
asked that information about the crash be made available to the 
families. We asked that the Air Force give the National Transportation 
Safety Board's aviation experts access to the file.
  The denying of the request to provide the National Transportation 
Safety Board access to the files was especially difficult for Senator 
Smith and I to understand, because in the interim the Air Force had 
allowed a private contractor to look at these materials. On September 
10, the National Transportation Safety Board informed us that, based on 
the limited data available, the Board was unable to determine whether 
the Air Force had conducted a thorough investigation.
  Having exhausted all other avenues to get this critically needed 
information for Oregon families, it was my hope that we could command 
some attention at higher levels of the military by appealing to the 
soon-to-be most senior officer. General Shelton's staff responded 
quickly. The Air Force has now proposed an agreement with the National 
Transportation Safety Board that should provide us the information we 
seek. It is a solid agreement and we wish to thank the Air Force for 
the prompt response to this case.
  The agreement between the Air Force and the National Transportation 
Safety Board is supported by the widows and the Oregon families, and 
provides for a joint, high-level review of the accident involving King-
56 and other C-130 incidents. The agreement calls for the team to issue 
a preliminary report within 90 days. It is our hope the full 
participation of the National Transportation Safety Board in a manner 
that assures its independence of action will finally get the families 
and the widows the answers they have awaited for so long.
  I want to yield to my colleague, Senator Smith. Before I do, I thank 
the chairman of the Armed Services Committee, Senator Thurmond, and 
Senator McCain, his colleague, and Senator Levin, for assisting Senator 
Smith and me. In yielding to my colleague, I again express my 
appreciation and thanks for the opportunity to work together on this 
matter in a bipartisan way.
  Mr. President, I yield the remainder of my time to my colleague from 
Oregon, Senator Smith.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Oregon.
  Mr. SMITH of Oregon. Mr. President, I thank my colleague, Senator 
Wyden, for yielding. I publicly commend my senior colleague from 
Oregon, with whom it has been my great pleasure to stand on this issue 
and ask for justice for our State. I want to point out a very pivotal 
role that Senator Strom Thurmond played in breaking a logjam, if you 
will, for the State of Oregon. For a very long time now, Senator Wyden 
and I have been trying to get answers from the Air Force for widows and 
orphans, literally, as to why their loved ones, these airmen, perished 
in this tragic accident. For one reason or another, we were stalled and 
put off at every turn.
  It was Senator Thurmond who, when he heard of Senator Wyden's hold on 
this nomination--and, frankly, my encouragement of that--that he 
intervened in our behalf. I acknowledge it. I thank him. He asked me to 
go immediately with him to the cloakroom where we got on the phone with 
the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force.
  We laid out the terms of a deal that will include a new investigation 
into C-130 air transports generally, and this one in particular. It was 
promised to Oregon's families, that these widows and orphans would be 
given the information they need as to why this accident occurred. It 
was promised that a member of the National Transportation Safety Board 
would be a part of this investigative team. And I think that is 
important for the Air Force that has, in my State, lost some 
credibility. I thank the Air Force for their promise to provide to our 
State, and this issue generally, the kind of investigation that was 
conducted for Commerce Secretary Ron Brown, who perished in an accident 
in Bosnia.
  So, I thank the Air Force for responding. I regret it took this level 
of intervention, but I compliment my senior colleague for his 
leadership on this. I have been proud to stand with him. I am grateful 
to Senator Thurmond. I am thankful the Air Force has come around to 
help us on this issue. I only hope that out of all of this will come 
information that will protect our men in the Air Force who fly C-130 
air transports from this ever occurring again to anyone else.
  With that, I encourage my colleagues in the Senate to vote for the 
confirmation of the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and I yield 
the remainder of my time.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from South Carolina.

[[Page S9377]]

  Mr. THURMOND. Mr. President, it was a pleasure to work with the 
Senators from Oregon to resolve this matter. I am very pleased it has 
been resolved.

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